This invention relates to connector systems.
Electrical connectors commonly comprise a connector block supporting a number of electrical contacts, and an outer housing or shell provided in two parts fitted about the connector block. The connector block usually has an orthogonal array of contacts, which may be in a single row or in multiple parallel rows. For each connector block of a different size, a corresponding different housing or shell is needed. Even in a connector system having a common width, a large number of different size shells are needed if the depth varies from connector to connector. The need to make many different size shells adds to the cost of manufacture and makes stocking of spares for the user more difficult.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative connector system.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a connector system comprising n different connectors formed of n connector blocks and 2n housing parts where n is at least three, the connector blocks each having a common width and a depth that differs from block to block, the connector housing parts each having a common width and some have a different depth from one another, each connector including one connector block and two housing parts, and at least one connector having two housing parts of different depths and at least two connectors have two housing parts of identical depth.
n may be nine, the system including eighteen housing parts having four different depths. The depth of the different depth housing parts may increase in steps of h, 3h and 6h over the depth of the smallest part.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a connector system including at least three connectors, each connector having a common width and a different depth, each connector including a two-part housing formed from selected ones of two different parts, and the two different parts having a common width and two different depths, namely a first depth and a second depth larger than the first depth such that a connector of the smallest depth can be formed from two housing parts of the first depth, a connector of an intermediate depth can be formed from one housing part of the first depth and another housing part of the second depth, and a connector of the largest depth can be formed from two housing parts of the second depth.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of forming two connectors of different sizes from n connector blocks and 2n housing parts, where n is at least three, the connector blocks each having a common width and a depth that differs from block to block, the connector housing parts each having a common width and some having a different depth from one another, including the steps of selecting a first connector block and two housing parts, joining the block and housing parts to form a first connector, selecting a second connector block of a different depth from the first block and two housing parts at least one of which has a different depth from the housing parts of the first connector, and joining the block and housing parts to form a second connector having a depth different from that of the first connector.
A connector system according to the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.